It was a lifetime innings: Amre

Terming his fighting century on debut on the third day of the Durban Test in South Africa in November 1992 as "the innings of a lifetime" as it was scored under alien conditions, former Indian middle order batsman Praveen Amre said he was happy to be associated with that landmark series.

"The 1992 series to South Africa in general and that innings in particular will always be special to me because we were playing under alien conditions against a team which was playing its first Test at home since March 1970 after being banned from international cricket for apartheid," Praveen Amre told Cricketnext.com.

"I clearly remember there were at least half a dozen nervous players from either side, who were making their Test debut, and the tension was there for all to see. In our dressing room both me and Ajay Jadeja, the other debutant, were all ears to the advices given by our seniors like Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and were trying to learn things as fast as we could grasp them," Amre added.

"Even before the tour started, we were at a disadvantage as we did not have any data about the conditions and nature of the wickets over there. When you are touring Australia or England you will know what to expect as the data is readily available and you can prepare yourself mentally," the present Mumbai coach said.

"But when you don’t have any data to refer you tend to become slightly confused as you will not know what to expect when you take to the field," he added.

Remembering the torrid time he had against the South African quickies before scoring his maiden ton, Amre said, he was determined to prove his critics, who felt he could not handle fast bowling, wrong and was angry at being hit on his body repeatedly by their fast bowlers.

"Personally for me it was a great moment to be picked to play in the eleven after struggling hard to make it to the Test squad. The selectors were criticised for picking me as the critics pointed out that I could not play fast bowling and hence I was under lot of pressure to prove them wrong," the former middle order batsman said.

"When I went in to bat, the position of the team was not good, with four of our top batsmen back in the pavilion with just 38 runs on the board. Sensing victory, their fast bowlers – Allan Donald, Brett Schultz and Brian McMillan – were bowling at full throttle and were trying their best to intimidate us. I received a few painful blows on my chest but I struck around as it was a make or break situation for me," he said.

"Luckily for me Azhar was batting at the other end when I went in and this gave me a lot of confidence as he was middling the ball very well and looked set for a big score. Being the last of the recognised batsmen, I had to see off the South African fast bowlers, who were threatening to run through our batting even as our skipper was run out after a misunderstanding," Amre said.

Praising former wicketkeeper Kiran More as a real motivator, Amre said, the stumper’s contribution to the total was as vital as his century in gaining the first innings lead.

"Though Kapil and Manoj (Prabhakar) were dismissed for low scores, Kiran More hung around for a long time as we built a solid partnership. Kiran, who was the senior player, was the one who motivated me to just keep on going irrespective of the hostility shown by South African bowlers and luckily for me I could accomplish what I set out for and got to my only hundred in Test cricket," he said.

"A tour to South Africa is always tough as they set high standard for any visiting team to follow. Even though they had an average batting line-up at that time their bowling and fielding were top class and debutant Jonty Rhodes, who made his debut along with Omar Henry, Jimmy Cook, McMillan and Schultz, made a big difference to the two teams," he added.

"With lot of hard work and determination I not only managed to get to the three figure mark but also did justice to my hard work. The tour was particularly satisfying for me personally as I went on to win the Man-of-the-Match awards in both Test and One-Dayers," Amre said.

When asked to compare the present South African team with the 1992 squad, Amre said, the 1992 side was very strong in bowling and fielding departments while the present team, under Graeme Smith, had strong batting line-up though their bowling looked a bit weak with the absence of Shaun Pollock (retired) and Andre Nel (not picked).

"The 1992 team was strong in bowling and fielding while the present team has a strong batting line-up while their fielding has always been top class. However, playing South Africans anywhere is a tough task and my best wishes will always with team India", he said.